Modern: The Many Faces of Splinter Twin

It's only been a few days since Splinter Twin was released from its long exile from Modern since it was first added to the Banned and Restricted list in 2016. At the time, Twin was a fan favorite in the format and its ban took many players by surprise, as its numbers didn't justify it leaving the format, but Wizards decided to remove the archetype from Modern in the interest of competitive diversity.

Eight years later and with many requests and memes, the moment of glory that many have been waiting for has arrived: Splinter Twin is now legal in Modern, and players and content creators alike have wasted no time in testing every possible archetype with the card.

The Splinter Twin combo was born when Rise of the Eldrazi introduced the enchantment, and it had interactions with Pestermite, but these were only considered in the competitive environment when New Phyrexia introduced Deceiver Exarch, which made the combo a viable strategy in Standard.

This archetype never reached the point of being dominant or even very competitive in the format. Perhaps because, at the same time, Standard went through its most turbulent period in years with Caw-Blade, which culminated in the first ban in years when Stoneforge Mystic and Jace, the Mind Sculptor left the format - Twin never did much after the bans and had little time in the competitive Metagame until the rotation.

Splinter Twin's first competitive results came that same year at Pro Tour Philadelphia, the first high-level competitive event in the Modern format, where Samuele Estratti took home the trophy with what would become the first widely known iteration of the archetype and which established the foundation that Twin would follow and continues to this day.

A few years later and with a few bans (Ponder and Preordain were two heavy hits to all Modern combos), Twin evolved and reinvented itself until reaching its most well-known iteration: a Combo-Control whose cards also operate in a fair game thanks to the release of Snapcaster Mage and complemented by other occasional threats like Vendilion Clique.

This shell solidified itself as the best possible version of Twin that all opponents needed to deal with - and respect. Eventually, the concept of false Tempo became clearer to players of the archetype: opponents needed to hold on to resources and overly respect Twin's response windows to safely advance their game plan, culminating in several suboptimal plays on their part that, in the end, resulted in several “extra turns” for the Twin player.

Thus was born Tarmo Twin, a three-color version of the archetype that sought to capitalize on this false Tempo by forcing the opponent to react to what you did with a complementary game plan, led at the time by Tarmogoyf.

The following year, Fate Reforged and Dragons of Tarkir brought two cards that became staples: Tasigur, the Golden Fang was one of the best creatures and recursion pieces in the format while Kolaghan’s Command provided a bit of everything that many decks needed and had an absurd interaction with Snapcaster Mage - and it didn’t take long for Twin to adopt both cards.

Splinter Twin was then banned on January 16th. Players tried other variants like Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, but to no avail, and the archetype became a relic of the past until it returned to Modern in late 2024.

The main question any Modern player has right now is whether Splinter Twin is still good enough to compete in a format that has already suffered three waves of power creep with the Modern Horizons expansions. Cards like Stoneforge Mystic, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, and Bloodbraid Elf were unbanned before MH even existed, and yet they proved obsolete compared to the Modern of the time, so would Twin suffer the same fate?

The answer, today, is still maybe. But players are trying hard to bring Splinter Twin back into the spotlight of competitive Modern.

The most common version today was popularized by content creator SaffronOlive and is based on Izzet Wizards, a Control deck that had been making occasional appearances in Modern since Lord of the Rings brought Flame of Anor, but now with a consistent combo-kill and a creature core that allows running Flare of Denial as free protection.

This variant is likely to serve as the basis for many steps that Splinter Twin still needs to take before it can keep up with Modern in 2024/2025. And some players are already using it as a base to splash cards like Teferi, Time Raveler for extra protection.

Others are already looking to mix the combo with other established strategies in the format, such as Izzet Murktide and the use of cards like Fear of Missing Out to take advantage of the Enchantment subtype that now makes it easier to enable Delirium.

Twin was an archetype that commonly took some parts of the combo to put attrition pieces in Games 2 and 3 and go to the “Control” side of its spectrum. But what if other decks used the combo as a “Plan B” for their strategies? It seems to be the case with this version of Izzet Phoenix.

After all, if the player starts with Rest in Peace, just go for the beatdown plan with Dragon’s Rage Channeler while waiting for the most opportune moment for the combo-kill.

Mixing Splinter Twin with other mechanics, in fact, seems to be a trend, since some Boros Energy lists have chosen to fill their lost slots with the ban with the enchantment and Village Bell-Ringer, which works as a version of Deceiver Exarch in another color.

I don't think this is the ideal home for the combo, nor is it something that Boros Energy wants, since the enchantment or Village Bell-Ringer don't interact with its overall game plan, but these first few weeks will be made up of trial and error.

At the time of writing, only one list with the combo made it to the Top 8 of a Magic Online Challenge, a version that, by the way, refers to one of the most successful variants that Twin has ever had:

I know, “who still runs Tarmogoyf in 2024?!”. It sounds shocking, but Tarmo Twin does what seems necessary for a combo today in Modern: have a very consistent alternative plan in case the combo takes too long and/or to force the opponent to respond to what you do.

I don't know if Tarmogoyf is the ideal card for this plan today, but the logic applies to any other cheap and efficient threat, from Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer to Psychic Frog, Nethergoyf, or any other creature.

The path to playing Splinter Twin today, no different from when it was banned, might be sticking to its original plan and building his list around either prolonging the game long enough to be able to execute the well-protected combo, or capitalizing on the respect that a two-card Instant-Speed ​​combo affords against many opponents.

It's unclear yet whether Twin will be a viable archetype in Modern. The first few weeks after a ban, and for that matter, four unbans, are always tumultuous and full of ideas to be implemented. People continue to search for the best homes for Mox Opal, Green Sun’s Zenith, Faithless Looting and Splinter Twin, and it has to prove itself as a more efficient combo than Indomitable Creativity, which was brought back to the map now that Modern no longer has The One Ring, and also capable of defending itself against the rest of the Metagame, which is quite different from 2016.

That’s all for today!

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!

Thanks for reading!